Thursday, September 27, 2012

Earlier, I posted a few photos of my father-in-law's '66 Chevy Impala. Today's post will be about his other ride, a 1986 Chevy El Camino. Sadly, Jan lost his four year battle with cancer and both cars need to find new, appreciative owners. I'd buy the El Camino for myself but lack the required garage space. Anyway, let's take a look.

The truck is in overall good condition with no body rot. Jan repainted the truck himself last fall. His efforts produced what I'd call a "ten foot" paint job, meaning that it is serviceable, protective and looks good from ten feet away. Ultra fastidious collectors would probably want to have it repainted by a professional but I'd drive it "as is" and not worry about the inevitable nicks and paint chips that a non-trailer queen is going to acquire.

Here she is from the stern. This truck came from Texas which probably accounts for both the lack of corrosion and also that the sun-bleached original paint needed sprucing up.

The bed is neat and tidy and features a fitted floor liner.

Classic mid-80s grill and rectangular quad headlamps.

View from the passenger's side.

The original cloth interior is still very presentable.

There are no cracks in the vinyl dash cover.

Last night I installed a new battery and she fired right up after sitting idle for several months. Note that the 350 V/8 has good oil pressure at 1200 RPM.

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Racing for Classic and Vintage Moth Boats resumed Sunday morning at 10 am. Recall that Saturday had offered up robust NW winds of ~15 knots with gusts higher. Sunday started off with a glassy calm on the Pasquotank River. A good regatta has something, condition-wise, for everyone and this was a good regatta! Photo Credits: Amy Smith Linton.

Milling around before the start of the first of three Sunday morning races. Not much air to work with.

Having said that, it didn't take Mr. Linton very long to figure things out. This is probably why the guy is a defending champion...

Eventually Mike Parsons was able to claw his way forward to Jeff.

Ever notice how race committees seem to have this knack of being able to figure out where the deadest air on the race course is likely to be and then locate the marks in those zones? Do they teach that skill at RC school?

The bulk of the fleet bunched up in time for this mark rounding. Your diarist is providing an excellent example of how lose a half dozen places at the mark by getting pinwheeled off. I'm second boat from the extreme right side of the photo next to Susan B.

The breeze did fill in an on/off-ish way. More off than on. This group is milling about waiting for the count down of, I think, the second race.

As regatta leader (lowest number of points carried over from Saturday), Jeff wore the "yellow jersey". Unlike the Tour de France's similar shirt, ours has a bull's eye on the back!

Still in relaxed mode waiting for the pin end of the start line to be adjusted.

After three sloooow races, we came ashore and started the down rigging/packing-up-for-the-road drill. Here Nancy Swan and Walt Collins get Feather ready for the trailer.

Randall Swan does likewise with Moth Balls his Etchells-Connecticut Moth.

After Greg rooted around in his pick-up and found his Walmart reading glasses he and John Pugh started the task of tallying the scores for the three separate divisions.

Greg attempts to read his own handwriting as the troops assemble for awards.

Dan Malott was 3rd in the Vintage division.

Bill Boyle sailed his Abbott to 2nd place in Vintage.

Randall Swan was 1st in the Vintage division.

Somehow, in spite of a lot of sloppy sailing, your old diarist salvaged 3rd in Generation I.

Gary Gowans took 2nd in Gen I.

Walt Collins, who always sails at the top of his game took both 1st place in Generation I but also won the Master's trophy for the best overall score for skippers above the age of 65.

Zach Balluzzo won the Junior award. We hope to see him back next year.

Nancy Swan took home the women's award.

Joe Bousquet was 3rd in Generation II.

Mike Parsons was second in Gen II just a single point behind Jeff.

Drum roll, please--Jeff Linton repeated as CMBA National Champion.

But wait, there's more: Randall took home the Founder's trophy for being the oldest competitor. No, you'll have to guess his age.

Finally, although she didn't want it, Nancy got the infamous "Turtle Trophy" for her spectacular capsize on Saturday. My son won this a few years ago and is fond of saying "there's a lot of good names on that trophy". And so, gentle reader, that wraps up this year's edition of the Classic Moth Boat Association's annual National Championship. Our next regatta, as we head into fall, will be at Chestertown, Maryland on the 29th of September. I can't wait!

Friday, September 21, 2012

Hydrofoiling Moths are the state of the developmental art for the International Moth Class and some of the top skippers within the Classic Moth fleet have built boats and compete at IMCA events. Joe Bousquet and John Zseleczky have completed foiler Moths of the "Hungry Beaver", designed by Naval Architect Bill Beaver. Fellow Classic Moth sailor Mike Parsons is not far behind in finishing the build of his foiler. The hulls of hydrofoiling Moths are capable of rising free of the water and then skimming across the water supported solely upon small T-foils attached to the bottoms of the dagger board and rudder blade. The enormous reduction of wetted surface once foil borne leads to speeds not seen in boats of this size. In order to sail one of these craft it pays to be young, strong, lightweight, rich, smart and agile. Your old diarist is none of those things! Photos courtesy of Amy Smith Linton.

At the conclusion of Classic racing, Walt Collins (wearing shirt with the circle-M insignia) rolls up his Classic sail while while Joe Bousquet rigs his foiler's sail.

Modern Moths have extremely narrow hulls as seen here on Joe's boat Try-foil. The righting moment necessary to sail the boat is provided by the hiking wings which extend out from the sheer line of the hull. These wings allow the skipper to move his weight out from the center line of the hull. Did mention you need to be strong and agile (among other things) to sail one of these?

Joe B. in "low rider" mode.

Joe B. up on foils. Yep, that's daylight between the bottom of the hull and the surface of the water.

A series of photos showing John Z. transitioning from low riding to hydrofoiling.

The IMCA uses the "Squashed Bug" insignia rather than the Circle-M which the Classic and Vintage Moths use. The IMCA boats also use a higher aspect sail plan compared to the Classic boats.

The better foiling Mothists can tack and gybe without coming down off the foils during the maneuver.

Jeff Linton swam out to give it a go. With the boat resting on her side one can see the port side halves of the two T-foils.

Jeff rights the boat,

and gets under way. I'd be back in the water with the boat flopped on her side again by this point.

Up, Up, Up!

These guys make it look easy--it's NOT! After a brief demo it was time for fried chicken. I'll conclude with a few pix from Sunday's action in the next post. Stay tuned.

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Saturday morning started off with a Skipper's Meeting at 9 am. This left competitors with two hours to finish rigging/tweaking boats before the first warning signal at 11am. This year we had two women and two junior sailors racing with the usual suspects. Hopefully both categories will continue to grow over time. Photo credits: Amy Smith Linton.

Nancy Swan setting her race timer.

Susan Bousquet rigging her Shelley Aftermath.

Bob Patterson was also rigging up his Mistral as the morning breeze built at a surprising rate.

Joe helps Susan with some fiddly bit on the Shelley. The Zeppelin-like bow of Greg Duncan's Connecticut peeks out in the background.

As the wind increased Arch Farmer decided that 10 year old Abby should sit out this day of racing. She's obviously disappointed.

Meanwhile, defending Champion Jeff Linton gears up for the day.

As the time for the first start approached, the lawn was suddenly filled with sails.

At Elizabeth City we launch the boats by handing them down over the bulkhead. Getting away is always tricky when the lawn is the lee shore.

Walt Collins helps Dan Malott in the Connecticut Moth.

After a bit of indecision even your old diarist manages to clear the docks and get cleanly away.

Nancy Swan borrowed Walt Collins' boat Feather for the regatta.

Joe B. watches Susan depart in Aftermath. The boat's name derives from the fact that Joe is a mathematics teacher and he restored the Shelley in the evenings after work.

Meanwhile, 14 year old Zach takes off in Look Out. Zach is a recent graduate from the summer sailing school which Greg Duncan oversees. Hopefully Greg can steer more junior sailors into Classic Moths from that program.

A few seconds after the start of Race 1. Your diarist is buried in the cluster of boats just passing the Committee Boat.

Jeff Linton, seen here on a downwind leg of the course.

Walt Collins and Bob Patterson not far behind Jeff.

There were the usual harsh and unpredictable gusts that accompany a NW wind as our new boy Zach soon discovered.

He hung in there and got Look Out back on her feet.

Nancy Swan was not as lucky and had to be towed in after Feather swamped.

Five races were completed by the end of Saturday. Most skippers were more than ready to haul out!

A beach ball for floatation in the cockpit of the Connecticut. Dan was no doubt happy that he didn't test its efficiency! After a bit of socializing, the foiler Moths were rigged up and demonstrated. I'll post a few pix of that action next time.

About Me

I'm a 60-something year old goat (who's counting? I don't look a day over 70) who enjoys racing Classic and Vintage Moth Boats (a small development class of sailing dinghy), putzing with little British cars, riding bikes (both motor and pedal),figure skating and an occasional bimble.